Apparatus for physical culture



May :22; 1923; 1,456,030

w. D. MOLBY APPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL CULTURE m d mm};v 16, 1921 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Valr MZJ flwmlys May 22, 1923.

' W. D. MOLBY APPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL cur/runs 5 SheetS-Sheet 2 Filed March 16. 1921 Inuenfir flzwid Maldg May 22,1923; 1,456,030 w. D. MOLBY APPARATUS FOR rmsxcnucuwuaa Filed March 16, 1921 5 sheets-sheets V WwrJwzdmzJ W. D. MO LBY APPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL CULTURE May .22,1923. 1,456,030

Filed March 16, 1921 I 5 Shets-Sheet 4 -May' 22, 1923.

- w. D. MOLBY APPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL CULTURE Filed March 16, 192i Patented May 22, 1923.

WALTER DAVID MOLBY, OF BALDWIN, KANSAS.

APPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL CULTURE.

Application filed March 16, 1921. Serial No. 452,878.

T 0 all whom it may concern.

Be it known thatI, WALTERDavin Money, a citizen of the United States, residing at Baldwin, Kansas, United States, at present 5 Rue Nouvelle, Paris, France, have invented new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Physical Culture, of which the following is specification.-

The present invention relates to an apparatus for physical culture which differs essentially from all hitherto designed apparatus in that, first ly, the body of the person undergoing treatment is supported, not upon a fixed bed, but bya kind of rotating hammoel; for the purpose of submitting the body to various useful fiexions, which cannot be obtained in the caseof afixed bed.

It consists furthermore,-in the fact that the body can be submitted to a tension exercised by the help of a weight, which tension makes itself felt from the head to the feet, and can moreover be adjusted at will by the patient or doctor.

The accompanying drawing shows by way of an example, an apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention.

Figure l is a general perspective view.

Figure 1 shows a detail. I

Figure 2, to a larger scale, is a detail view of the device serving to stretch and relax the hammock.

Figure 3, to a larger scale, shows the weights adjusted by way of example, so as to allow only one of them to act.

Figure 1, to a larger scale, represents the system of cords and associated parts for supporting the weights and for varying the number thereof which it is desired to cause to act. I

Figure a general view, in perspective, of a modification.

Figures 6 and 7, show details, to a larger scale, of the locking device for the crank shaft. v i

Figures 8 and 9 show the device for holding; the feet and for permitting the muscles of the toes to be exercised.

Figure 10-. on the same scale as Figures 6 and '7, is a detail of the mounting of the guide-pulley over which the cord passes.

Referrin first to Figures 1 to l, the apparatus consists ofa frame a supported by the legs a. The hamock b may be of any suitable type. composed ,for example of two metal end-pieces Z), 7) between which is stretched cloth or other suitable material. An arched support 6 is connected to the part Z) and is traversed by a tubular piece 6 The extremity of this latter is threaded and has a nut 59 thereon. To the part b is connected an arched support 5 in which isformed an eye through which passes a bolt 6. The perforated head lb of this latter is traversed by a shaft 6 mounted in the frame a and carrying cranks b". On the shaft 6 are fixed the ends of the cords 12 Z2 connected to the said frame. The ends of the shaft 72 can slide in slots (1?, a formed in the frame. a bail Z2 which is destined to engage in one of the teeth a a provided in the racks a, a fixed to the frame.

The head of the patient, which projects beyond the hammockb, is supported by a rin 0 having an eyelet connected by a strap or other suitable'and adjustable means 0 to the support-b5.

The body of the patient is held in the hammock by any suitable means, such as a lacing or by belts 6 The feet, which also project, are or maybe shod with slippers d, to each of which a cord d, d is connected. These latter are fixed to a ring or swivel d fixed to the end of acord 6Z This cord passes through the tube 6 and around a pulley (Z and also through the discs 03, which constitute the individual weights of any suitable number, in such a manner as to support them. The weights are fitted with lugs (Z7, (Z which are arranged alternately at the lower and upper parts of two adjacent weights. lugs. The uppermost weight is furthermore provided with ears-d (Z to which are con nected two cords (Z al these latter are connected to a cable d which passes over the guide-pulleys d, al and winds up on a shaft cl which carriesa ratchet wheel (Z having a handle al A spring-pressed pawl (Z engages the wheel d.

The tubular part b is prolonged to form two lugs, only one of which 79 is shown in Figure 4:,these lugs forming bearings for the shafts Z), 5 of abracket b fixed to the frame a. v

The method of operation is as follows: To begin with, the .weightd? is raised by operating the handled, the effect of which is towind up the cord on the shaft d" and to raise the said weights by means, of the About said shaft is pivoted Short bolts 03? pass through the v explaineda cords d, 03 It will be easily understood that it is the first, top weight which is raised, whichv lin turn,'by' means 'of'the lugs-"d7, d

- and bolts 03", raises the next weight and so Y give-it a substantially horizontal position by on. The weights being all:raiseclpthe cord. d is slack and it caneasily be connected, by means'of the cords 01, d to the sl1ppersd, d;j

of the patient when helies down in the hammock. I The hammock 7) is then stretched" so as to imparting a rotary motion-to one of the cranks tithe effect ofwhichisto wind up the cords b 79 about the shaft 6 and to bringthis latter towards the end "of the frame mat the same time moving the etched support; b fthe' end piece 6 the hammock itself, the end piece'b and the arched support 6 which bears against the nut I)". During this operation the shaft b slides in'the slots a a? and the bail 6 sliding successi'vely over theteeth at, a of the racks a, a is held by .two of these teeth when the movenient is finished so as tohold the hammock inthe position to which it has been stretched. The "patient then enters the hammock,

attaches his slippers (Z, (Z to the cords clf, (1

then fixes himselfin place by straps or-la-cing's 6 and then places-his head in the "progressively on the cord 6%. This cord being connected by the cords cl, d to the slippers of the patient, the body of this latter, the nape" of the neck being held by the ring 0, is subjected'to tension, the extent of which can'be varied at will by themeans already Being thusflexposed to the action of this variable tension the patient can make sidewise movements, in one direction or the other ofany given'aniplitude up to as much as a'complete, revolution; 'During these move ments the majority of his muscles comes into :operation including those of the feet and calves. The efiortmade by the patient can be increased if, insteadof'giving'the hammock a,horiz'ontal position as has hitherto beenassumed to be'the case, its centre .is allowed to'sink more or less. This result is easilyobtained by first releasing thebail F6 from the teeth a a and unwinding to a greater or less exrenaty suitable manipulaare woundround the shaft 65. v n 1Finally, it should be pointed out that when the hammock is in a sunken position during i tion 'ofjthe cranks b thecords Z2 9, 6 which its movement of rotation, the tubular piece 72* scillates about the axes b, 6 of the bracket b fl I v I In the modification shown in Figures 5 to l0, an improvement has been devised which enablesthe patient to get into and out of the apparatus; with greater case, a second improvement enablesthe patient to manipulate the apparatus more easily, a third, im-rv provement relates to a device by means of which the feet of the patient can be held in provement enables the patient also to" exercise the muscles of his toes. v i

The apparatus consists essentially, as in the first example described above, of a-suitable frame, but it comprises an entrance for the patient which can be closed by a movable member- This member, which has forv ex ample the form of a tube 6 (Fig; 5) can be raised or lowered by meansof a hinge on the frame a, or it can. be made to slide so asto' a positive manner and finally, a fourthimenter within this latter; it is held in position by'stops 'e", e". the interi'o'r'of-the apparatus by moving the tube 6 out of the way, without having to The patient has access to Y stride over the" frame as was the case in the modification firstdescribed. a

In con'tradistinction to the first modificm tion in which'the cranks 729, b of the shaftb are exterior of'the frame, the cranks accordingto thi'smodification are interior of the frameso that they are more within the reach of" the patients hands so that the latter can manipulate them himself withoutthe' help of a third party. In Fig. 5, the shaft is designated by 72 and the cranks by b", In this case,the arrangement is such that'the shaft can be locked in the position to which it has been brought by a'm'echanism which differs from that described above and consists essentially of a fixed rack f, ataohed to the interior of the frame a by means of screws 7, f, Fig. 7, a pinion 6 formed at each end of the shaft 6 and a lockingrack 7,each off-setextremity of which forms trunnion f and is mounted in a transverse wall f fixed within the frame a by screws 7 or in any other suitable manner. To permit of introducing the walls 7 into the tubes of the frame a, these latter are cut out or notched at f, Fig. 6. Each trunnion f is held in place by a nut f Collars f prevent any longitudinal movement of the rack f To this latter are fixed manipulating handles P, f which are fixed by means of shafts f or in any other suitable manner, the ban dles passing through openings 7* formed in the frame a. A slot i formed in each of the tubes of the frame a in which are lodged the parts I)", f and f 'gives every'possibility of movement to the crank-shaft 6 A spring pin "7? of any suitable arrangement permits of locking the handles f in one or the other of their extremepositions.

The method of operation is the following: supposing the patient in position ready to do physical culture and with the parts in the position shown in Fig. 6, the patient first seizes-with one hand one of the cranks b" so as to hold the shaft firmly, while at the same time he unlocks with the. other hand the rack f on'his left, forexample by turning the handles f i the effect of which is to swing the rack which then disengages itself from the pinion b. He then seizes the other crank b and releases the one he was previously holding, after which he releases, but this time on his right, the other locking rack f which retains the pinion 7) at the other end of the shaft 5 The handles f are then pushed down and held in position by means of the two spring pins 7 The shaft 5 being free, the patient seizes the two handles 6 and can then move the shaft 3 at will, so as to move it towards or away from his feet, thereby causing relaxing or tensioning of the body of the patient. As soon as the desired tension has been given to the hammock Z), the handles f are raised so as to lock the racks f again.

Figures 8 and 9 show the device for holding the feet and enabling the toes to be exercised. This device in so far as it relates to holding the feet, differs from the first described device in that, fi'rstly, the feet are held firmly, they can be introduced into the device and withdrawn therefrom easily and rapidly, and on the other hand, the device is conceived in such a manner that weights for the purpose of tensioning the body of the patient can be dispensed with. It is possible to submit the body to traction without the help of any weight by simply using a cord which is wound on, or unwound from, a drum at the will of the patient.

The feet are introduced each into a kind of clamp consisting essentially of two parts or halves g, g" and g of which 9, g are mounted on fixed plates {1 g and g on movable plates g g The plates /3 g are stationary in so far as they are fixed to a cross-piece p on which'they can oscillate without moving laterally, the crosspiece ,7" can slide upon the arched support 6 which is similar to that shown in Figure 1. Spri'ngssuchas g tend to cause the plates to assume a suitable inclined position of about 45 with the horizontal. The mova ble plates 9", comprise lugs through which the cross-piece g passes freely. Springs tend constantly to force the said movable plates toward the fixed plates g so as to hold theifeet between the two halves y, g 0 1 W, of the foot holder. Parallel to the cross-piece g is arranged a toothed rack it having ratchet teeth which passes freely through retaining pawls constituted by perforated angle irons fixed to the movable plates g At its centre'the'rack It is pierced by an eye through which passes a rod 71 which latter also passes through an eye formed in the centre of the cross-piece g. A spring 7L3 serves to hold the rack away from the cross-piece. The said rod if is connected to the traction cord d which is the same as the one already described and is coupled to a swivel d which in turn is connected to the cord d upon which the traction is to be exercised as will be seen below. The rod it is fitted with a head it which bears against the rack h when said traction is exercised. The plates 9 g and 9 g which pivot about the cross-piece g are connected and assembled by a rod 9 which passes freely through the eyes formed in the lugs g fixed on the plates, said rod being held against the outer plates by a head 9 It is, however, evident that the said rod could pass through the plates directly; in the same way, the crosspiece 9 could pass directly through the plates, without the intermediary of the lugs'g The cord (Z passes through the tubular part b which, as in the device first described, carries the nut 6, the nut in thiscas'e'bearing against the arched support. 15 The tubular piece isi'n one with ajsemi-cylindrical support I) inserted in the tube of the frame a and fitted with a roller'cl over which the cord'd passes. In the arrangement shown in Figures 5 to '10 the cord is not connected to a weight as'in the previous arrangemenhbut is'connecte'd di rec-tly to the crank d which serves'to exercise a traction on thebody ofthe patient. It follows that, instead of exercising'a traction by causing; the-weightcl described above, to act, which "was effected by slackening the cord d, this tractioniseffected by pulling on the cord, which is effected by acting on the crank. p

The degree of traction imparted to'the body of the patient can be indicatedto the latter by means of a suitable dynamometer i. The invention consists in the application of this instrument to apparatus for physical culture. v

With reference to Fig. 9, which shows the device enabling the toes of the patient to be exercised, this device consists essentially of an elastic traction-inember con nected to the toes and allowing these latter to act in antagonism to thismember. The said member is shownhere in the form of a cord or chain j connected by one of its ends to a spring fixed to a suitable point of the sole and-passing over a pulley 9' and terminating in four small chains'j Each chain terminates in two masses or balls 7' one of which is placed below and the other above each toe, so as to connect the device to the toes of the patient. I

The method of'operation is as follows: The halves g, g and g of the footi 9 bottom weight,v and -means for consecuholder being normally close together under the effect of the springs instead of being apart as show-nby way of example in Fig.

8, thepat-ient introduces hisfeet into the foot-holder by removing. the halves from each other, after which the springs 9* bring the two halves together again, the patient "manipulates the crank al the eflect of which is to'pull upon the head h (Fig. 8)

through the intermediary, of the parts h (Z d d and to move the rack it until one of its teeth'engages the pawl h and locks the movable halves g against the fixed halves 9*, g.

s rin k is com ressed. The feet bein P a P firmly held, theipatient continues to turn the crank (Z the effect .of which is to pull upon the cross-piece gfiwhich, sliding upon the arched support b ,-exercises a traction upon the body. a v

If, finally, the'patie nt wishesto exercise the muscles of the feet, in general, he introduces the balls y" of the chain j between the toes of his feet andexerts an effort the result of which is to exercise the correspondsupports, a bottomweight connected to said cord-for placing said support under tension, a plurality of superposed weights on the tively relieving the bottom weight of said superposed weights. I I c f2. An apparatus for physical culture comprisingaframe, apair of coaxially and freely pivoted supports in the frame adapted to engage thehead and feet of the body of the operator for suspending his body and permitting of the turning and twisting of the body by exercising contortions of the operator, and means for exerting a tension on one support to stretch the body.

3. In'an appaatus for physical culture,

the combinationof a footsupport adapted to embrace the footfwiththe toes free to move, aspring arranged beneath the sup? port, and a flexible connection leading from thespring and about the outer end of the support for engagement with the toes for holdingv the same under, tension 5 against the support. I

4;. In an apparatus for physical culture, spaced apart supports, and bodyyengaging members freely pivoted in saidsupports and arranged substantially coaxial and adapted to engage thehead and feet of the operator,

During this operation the for suspending the same whereby when the operator performs exercising contortions the freely pivoted members permit the free turning and twisting of his body. I

5. An apparatus for 'physicalculture comprising in combination a frame, a shaft slidably'mountedin said frame, a support for the headof the patient connected to said shaft, a cord connected to said frame and, wound on said shaft, means 0 erable by-the patient for rotating said siaft, a support for the feet ofthe patient, a flexible support connecting said head and foot-supports, means. for applying tension to said foot-support, andmeans for locking said head-support in position. I 3

6. An apparatus for physical culture comprising in combination a frame, a shaft slidably mounted in said frame, a support for the head of. the patient pivotally; connected to said shaft, a cord connected to said frame and wound on said shaft, means operable by the patient for rotating said shaft, a-rackon saidframe, a bail carried by said shaft and adapted toengage said rack, a support for the feet of the patient,

and foot-supportsv and means for applying tension to said foot-supports.

7. An apparatus for physical culture comprising in combination a frame, a head-support adjustably connected to said frame, a foot-support, a flexible member connecting said headand foot-supports, a cord connected to said foot-support, a bottom weight connected to said cord, a plurality of weights superimposed on said bottom weight and connected together in pairs, a cord attached to the-topmost weight, a shaft on which said second cord is wound, means for rotating said shaft and means for locking said shaft in position. V

8. An apparatus for physical culture comprlsing in combination a frame, a head-'support adjustably connected to said frame, afoot-support, a flexible memberconnecting said headand fo0t-supports, a cordconnected to said foot-support, a bottom wei ht connected tosaid cord, a'plurality of weights superimposed on said bottom'weight and connected together in pairs, a cord attached to the topmost weight, a shaft on which said second cord is wound, a ratchet wheel on said shaft, a pawl on said; frame en gaging said ratchet wheel and means operable by the patient for rotatingsaid shaft.

9. An apparatus for physical culture comprising in combination a frame, a crankshaft mounted insaid frame, a head support connected to said shaft, a foot-support pivotally mounted in .said frame, toothed wheels on the. ends of said crank-shaft, racks mounted in said frame and means for swinging said, racks into and out of engagemen with said toothed wheels.

a flexible support connecting said head- 11. In a device of the class described, the combination of a foot-support consisting 01": fixed and movable halves, sprin s forcing said halves together, a cord opera 1e by the patient to exert traction upon said footsupport, a rack connected to said cord and adjustably engaging the said movable halves, said rack being adapted to lock said fixed and movable halves together under the 20 tension of the cord.

WALTER DAVID MOLBY. 

